Lumber-stacker.



H. W. CLARK.

LUMBER STACKER.

APPLICATION FILED DB0. 19, 190s.

944,946.y Patented Dec. 28,1909.

attain,

I H. W. CLARK.

' T JTMEEB.` STACKBR.

APPLIUATION FILED DBO. 19, 1908.

944,946, Patented Dec.28, 1909.

f 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 4%. Z.

W. CLARK.

LUMBER STAGKER.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.19, 1908.

944,946. Patented 1m28, 1909.

u 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. .3%. j. f u .yf 'J Snowdon HENRY WILLIAM CLARK, OFST. LOUIS. MISSOURI.

LUMBEB-STACKER.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 19, 1908. Serial No. 468,353.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WiLLlzsM CLARK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at St. Louis city, State of Missouri, have invented newand useful Improvements i n Lumber-Stackers, of which the following is aspeciication'.

This invention relates to a lumber stacking device of that type whichreceives the lumber from the trimming machine and stacks the boards in apile on a truck whereby the lumber can be moved into a kiln for di-ying.

v The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify theconstruction and operation of machines of this character so as to becomparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and reliable andeilicient in use.

A further objectof the invention is the provision of a novel arrangementof carrier oi' elevator which is raised step by step as the layers ortiers oflumber ai'e formed.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a carriage mountedon the carrier or elevator for transferring the pieces of lumber fromthe endless conveyers to the stack forming on the kiln truck, incombination with a novel reversing device for reciprocating thecarriage.

' An additional object is the employment of devices arranged on thecarriage for placing the separating strips upon t e uppermost layer ortier of lumber as the layers or tiers are successively completed, thesaid devices being operated automatically-as the carriage reaches theend of its stroke in either direction. l

With these objects inyview and. others, as will appear as thedescription proceeds,"the invention comprises the various novel featuresof Vconstruction and arrangement' of parts which will be more fullydescribed hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claimsappended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of theinvention, Figure 1 isa front view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4- isan enlarged sectional view on line 4 4, Fig. 2, showing themember-transferring device. vFig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view online 5 5, Fig.` 2, showing one of the spacing strip feeding or 'placingdevices. Fig. 6 is a detail View showing the means for moving thestrip-placing devices one step forwardly as the carriage reaches the endot' its movement. Fig. 7 is a detail view of a portion of the mechanismfoi' reciprocating the car- .riage. Fig. 8 is a detail section-.il viewon line 8-8, Fig. 4.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the bed of the machine lwhich isconstructed of timbers a suitably arranged to provide a durable andsubstantial foundation, and mounted on this bed are uprights l ar rangedtwo at the front and two at the rear ,in spaced relation to each otherand on these uprights is a top frame 2. Extending across the two are,beams or sleepers 3 on which are rails 4 over which travelsa main truckB. This truck has transversely-extending rails 4a that support a kilntruck C on which the pile or stack of lumber is formed so that the samecan be moved on the main truck B to a position in front of the door ofthe kiln, and when in such position the kiln truck C is moved into thekiln so that the stack of lumber thereon can be artificially dried.Moved vertically in the framework of thev machine is a horizontallydisposed open frame structure constituting a carrier or elevator D whichsupports the luinber-tiaiisferring-device and the spacing strip-placingdevices. The carrier D is supported on vertical elevating screws 5arranged at the four uprights 1 and are mounted at their lower ends inbearings 6 on such uprights and at their upper ends in bearings 7 on thetop frame 2. The screws 5 work in internallythreaded nuts or bearingmembers 5EL at the front and rear of the carrier and the lower endsofthe screw shafts 5 are provided wit-h miter gears 8 that mesh withmiter gears 9 arranged on horizontal shafts 10. These shafts, as shownin Fig. 3, are arranged to rotate in bearings 11 on the bed of themachine and are simultaneously driven by a centraltransversely-extending shaft 12 rotatably mounted in bearings 13 on thebed of the machine, there being ,miter gears 14 between. the extremitiesof the shaft 12 andl the shafts 10. Theshaft 12 is periodically operatedin any suitable manner so 'that after a layer of the pieces of lumberhas been formed'on the kiln truck or on the top ofthe stack, the screwswill be turned for raising the carrier a suicient distance to PatentedDec. 28, 1909.A

.cari-ier, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

permit another set of parting strips to be placed on the top ot' thenewly finished layer of lumber. In the presentinstance. the shaft g 12is provit'led with spaced friction disks 15 with either of which engagesa driving disk 16 disposed between the disks 15. '-lhe disk 1G ismounted on a shaft. 1T that carries a pulley 18 adapted to be drivenfrom any suitable source of power by a belt. The inner one of the twobearings 19 for the shaft 17 is mounted to slide in a guide 2t) and thejl bearing is connected by a lilik 2l with a lever or equivalent meanswhereby the friction element. 1G can be thrown toward and maintained inengager-nent with either tinuously rotated so that thecarrier will belowered into cooperative relation with another empty kiln truck whichwill be moved into ther stacker after the stack-filled kiln truck isconveyed to the kiln.

Moitnted on the carrier B is a carriage E in the form of a rectangularframe which is provided with rollers 23 at its ends that ride on railsor tracks 2-1 arranged on the This carrier carries the means fortransferring the pieces ot' lumber from the endless conveying devices tothe stack and also supports the devices for placing the spacing strips.The carriage is reciprocated back and forth over the stack so as tosuccessively j place the pieces of lumber 1n position. For

this purpose, the carriage is provided with ay double rack 25, Fig. 2,extending laterally from the center of one side thereof, the rack beingcomposed of two spaced members having rack teeth 26 and 27 on theiropposed faces. .Extending upwardly between the rack members is arotatable shaft 28 mounted in bearings 29, Fig. 1, and on this shaft. 28is a pinion 29a which meshes with a. companion pinion 30 that can be.thrown Y into or out of engagement with either set of rack teeth 26 and27. The pinion 30 is mounted on a reversing bar 31 suitably mounted onthe carrier D. As shown in Fig.

7, the pinion 29n slides on the shaft 28 so as to move with the carrieras the same is raised or lowered, and the shaft 2S is pr vided with akey-way 32 in which engages a feather 33 whereby the pinion 29a isvconnected with the shaft to rotate therewith. As shown in Fig. 1, thelower"end of the shaft 28 is provided with loose and fixed ,pulleys 530and 30 that are adapted to be driven by a belt from a suitable source ofpower. ()n the meml'iers 25 are cams or wedges 25J( and 35,respectively, which are adapted to alternately engage projection.s orpins Bti on the reversing bar 31 so that the carriage ll moves in onedirection, as for instance to the left, Fig. 2. the wedge E-l willengage the projection Pit', located in its path and shift the reversingbar 31 when the carriage reaches the end of .its movelnent so as tothereby thi'ow the pinion 30 out 'of engnigentent with the rack teeth 26and into engagement with the rack teeth 27 to thereb v return thecarriage. .\s the carriage reaches the end of its reverse moven'ient,the. \\'edge 35 strikes the other prt'ijtmtion lt on the reversing barto thereby shift the latter for throwing the pinion 30 int-o engagementwith the 'ack teeth 26. ln this manner. the carriage. will beauton'iatically reversed at the end of its movement in either direction.'.lhe shift bar is held in either extreme position b vI a. pin 37arranged to engage either side of a lnimped leaf spring BS. The leafspring is secured to the carrier l) and as the reversing bar is moved,the spring yields laterally to permit the piti 37 to pass, and as soonas the pin passes tothe opposite side of the hump of the spring, thelatter 'returns to normal position so that the hump will lic .behind thepin 37 and prevent the reversing l C ing back and forth.

ba r from shiftino while the carriage is mov- .stacking machinel fromthe trimmer of the saw-mill by endless conveyers F in the form of chainshaving fingers or projections 259 which engage behind the pieces oflumber and gradually move them to the carriage of' the stacker. The.'endless conveyers lt are mounted in arms 40 which extend over thecarrier at one side thereof and arranged in coperative relation withthese conveyorsy are transferring devices (l which receive tht` piecesof lumber from the conveyers rand cariv them to the chute 4l of thecarriage.

'lhe devices Gr are formed of. endless chains 42 which, as shown in Fig.are provided with fingers or projections 43 that` engage the pieces oflumber and move them to the inclined chute 4l. 'lhis chute #tl extendstlie full length of' the carriage at one side thereof and the pieces oflumber slide down' the chute and are deposited upon the top of thestack, the carriage being moved at a greater rate of speed than theendless elements 42 of the transferring devices so that the pieces oflumber will be, placed on the top of the stack in spaced relation sothat air channels will be provided between adjacent pieces. The endlesselements t. are mounted in chambered cross pieces 4t attached to the.carriage E and in the chambersef the cross pieces 11A-*lart` wheels orpulleys 45 over which the chains or flexible elements 42 move. Thecli-ams l2 move Itlt) llt back and forth with the carriage, while theconveying chains- Fare relativelystationary, and these latter chainspass around sprocket wheels 4V which serviyas drivers for the chains 42,there heilig sprocket wheels 4T connected with the sprocket wheels 46 sothat the chains 42 will bc positively driven, the sprocket wheels 47being located between the pulleys for each chain 42. The cross pieces 44are provided with longitudinal slots 48 in which are arranged bearings49, for the shafts 50 of the sprocket wheels 46 and 47. Asshown in Fig.S, the shafts 50 are arranged in fixed lbearings 51 on the arm 40 andthe slots 4S permit the carriage E to move. back and forth withoutkinterference yfrom the shaft 50. It will thus be seen that the cha-ins42 arc arranged in overlappingrelation with the endless convcyers F sothat said chains will at all times be in a position to receive pieces oflumber from the 4endless conveyers.

On the carriage'E are transversely-dis posed chutes 52 which are four innumber, as shown in Fig. 2, and through these chutes the spacing strips53, Fig. 2, are discharged upon the top of the stack. The spacing stripsare supported on endless chains 54, Fie'. 5, that pass oversprocketwheels 55, the chains being provided with pins 5G which engagethe Strips and move them for- Wardly toward each chute 52. Coperatingwith the chains 54 are tracks 57 on which the ends of the facing stripsride as they are moved toward the chutes. At least two chains 54 areemployed for each strip-placing device, and these chains are advancedone step each time the carriage E reaches the end of its movement ineither direction. For this purpose, the shaft 58 for one set of thesprocket wheels 55, Fig. 5, is provided with a ratchet wheel 59, asshown in Fig. 6, with which engages a pawl G() that is carried by a bellcrank lever (i2 fulcrmned at a suitable point on the carriage Il. Onearm of the'bell crank lever is formed into a shoe G3 which is adapted t0engage a projection or pin 64 arranged on a suitable part of the carrierD. There are two sets ot' pins 64, so thatthe shoe 63 will be engaged atthe end of the movement of the carriage for the purpose of actuating thelever to partially lturn the ratchet Wheel 59 to advance thestripcarrying chains 54 a distance suiiicient to deliver a separatingstrip to the chute '52. By means of these strip-placing devices, thet'our strips will be placed in spaced relation on the top of the stackafter a layer or tier of lumber has been applied to the stack.

From the foregoing description, taken in connect ion with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and.

of the method of operat-ion will be readily apparent. to those skilledin the art to whichI the invention a ppertains; and While I have portm gscrews,

described the principle of operation of the invent-ion, together withthe apparatus which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, .Idesire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is merelyillustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as areWithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what I cla-im is f y f 1. In astacking machine, the combination 'of a supporting structure, a carriermounted thereon, means for 'elevating the carrier step by step, areciprocatory carriage mounted on the4 carrier, endless conveyers fordelivering lumber from a mill to the stacker, transferring means on thecarcarriage tor placing strips on top of each layer.

In a stacker, the combination ot' a snpporting structure, an ele atorthereon, a carriage on the elevator, means ou the carriage i fordepositing pieces` ot' lumber in layers 1n superimposed relation, `andautomatically-A actuated devices for placing separating strips betweenthe layers.

4. In a stacker, the combination of' a supstructnre, a carrier,elevating screws carrier, mechanism including a refriction gear foroperating the a carriage mounted for reciprocation on the carrier, adelivery chute on the carriage, means for delivering pieces of lumber tothe carriage, and devices on the carriage for carrying the said lumberfrom the said means to the delivery chute.

In va stacker, the combination of a snpporting structure, van elevator,a zarriage, a device `for reciprocating the carriage, and means forautomatically reversing the device by the movement of the carriage toproduce continuous reciprocation of the carriage.

.'G. In a stacker, the combination of a reciproeatory carriage, rackbars on the carriage, a continuonsly-driven pinion, means for shiftingthe pinion from one rack bar to tlieotlulr;`- and ,a device controllingthe said means by the movement ot the. carriage. \\",j\.\

7: "nya stacker, the combination of a reciprocatory carriage, spacedrack bars, a

for the verslng pinion'adapted to mesh with either rack bar, means fordriving the pinion, a reversing device for moving the pinion intoengagement With either rack bar, cams on the rack bars, and projectionson the reversing device clisposed in the path of the cams to shift thesaid device at the end of the movement of the carriage in eitherdirection.

8. In a stacker, the combination of a carriage, an elevator on Whichfthecarriage is mounted, a pair of spaced rack bars connected with thecarriage, a rotatable shaft y extending between the rack bars, a pinionslidably mounted on the shaft, a second pinion arranged permanently inmesh with the first pinion and adapted to mesh with either rack bar, anda device controlled by the movement of the carriage for throwing thesecond pinion into engagement with either rack bar -for reversing themovement of the carriage.

9. In a stacker,'the combination of a reciprocatory carriage, rack barsconnected therewith, a pinion adaptedY to mesh with either rack bar,means for rotating the pinion, a movable reversing member on which thepinion is mounted, means whereby the carriage adjacent the end of itsmovement actuates the reversing bar, and a locking device for yieldinglyholding the reversing y bar in position to maintain the mesh With eitherrack bar.

l0. Ina stacker, the combination of a carpinion in riage having aVdischarge chute extending -Y longitudinally thereof for discharging thcpieces of lumber to the stack, a plurality of strip-discharging chutesextending transversely to the carriage, devices for delivering stripsperiodically to the second-mentioned chutes, and means arranged to bcoperated by the movement of the carriage by actuating the said devicessimultaneously. n

11. In a stacker, the combination of a supporting structure, an elevatoror carrier mounted thereon, means for raising or lowering the elevator,a carriage, means for reciprocating the carriage on the carrier, endlessconveyers for conducting pieces of lumber to the carriage, Wheels drivenby the conveyors, endless elements arranged to receive pieces of lumberfrom the conveycrs, means for positively driving the said elements fromthe said wheels, means for mounting the elements on the carriage tolnove back and forth therewith with respect to the conveyers and wheels,a chute on the carriage adapted -to receive the pieces of lumber fromthesaid elements and to deliver the said pieces to the stack in layers,and means for automatically placing separating strips on each layer ofthe stack.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of-two witnesses.

HENRY 'WILLIAM CLARK. Witnesses:

ARTHUR DIGBY, LAWRENCE MCDARIEL.

